Fair Hair
by Inudaughter Returns
Summary: Living as a Dark Elf is complicated. So is love. Sinitara is a general choice in one of the Heroes of Might and Magic games. All other characters come from a lengthy fan-fic I co-authored called "In the World of Prisoners". This is a sequel.
1. Chapter 1

Note to reader. Yes, this story has been permitted to borrow characters from a prequel, "In the World of Prisoners", submitted by Raelag852014. Thanks Raelag for the proofread!

 **Fair Hair**

Written by Inudaughter Returns

This story, like most good stories of Ashan, begins in the tavern. The recruiting grounds for many a general, the taverns sprawled or scattered hodge-podge all across Ashan are by far the most racially diverse places to be found on a continent ruled by clashing races. Here, in the smoky gloom trailed by wizard's pipes, listening to the tambourine of nomads taking a breather from their occasional mischief of a bandit raid, tasting the sweet-bitter beer that only Dwarves could brew and export by the ship-sized barrel, one might find all races of Ashan. In the drunken state, it seems, denizens of Ashan rub elbows freely with every fiend they might fear by daylight- a sylvan elf bench mates to a necromancer, or a proud knight of the holy empire to a reveling succubus.

It was in one such tavern, deep underground in the labyrinth that was capital to Sinatara, ruler among Dark Elves, that a member of her personal army appeared. His goal, this time, was not brew but rather to recruit, for taverns are replete with idle warriors.

Vaythose, night stalker assassin for the Dark Elf Empire, looked across the bar for the table sitting immediately before the fire's light. There sat a warrior dressed in the same black robe as he, with the usual crossed steel daggers and stout leather boots of his trade. With a start, however, Vaythose noted that the stranger's chest bulged with the replete breasts of a female- odd indeed for the women of their race had many of their own military companies. Few indeed chose to take up the occupation of a male- whom were frequently seen as weak in a fiercely matriarchal society. Besides that one fact, no other fact could give Vaythose certainty, for the woman had the hood of her cloak drawn tightly down over her eyes. But it was the figure seated in front of the fire he had come to see.

With all the careful pacings of a cat about to perch in the presence of a dog, Vaythose took the chair opposite the stranger. The woman assassin then lifted her head , her eyes boring into his before she gave her head a very feminine tilt.

"What brings you here, stranger?" she uttered. Vaythose stiffened at the melodic rumblings of her tone.

"A mutual friend," he said. "Cathosa, the Iron Heels, told me I would find a mercenary for hire. Are you the one she calls Fair Hair?" The figure before him gave a snort, then a short laugh of mild derision.

"That Cathosa! Even after all these years, she never lets up! Yes, I am the one she calls Fair Hair, although she knows I do not like the name."

"Forgive me for asking," said Vaythose. "But why does she call you Fair Hair?"

"It is an old tale," said the female assassin, tucking her untidy cloak snuggly back onto her shoulder. "My mother was a Sylvan slave captured on a Dark Elf raid to the surface. I hid my hair with a wig, as I still do now. It is an odd trait. But Cathosa was an old bunkmate of mine at military academy. She was cunning enough to know I was hiding things, and it was not long before she yanked the wig off! After that she began to call me 'Fair Hair'. We served together for a time, but I did not re-enlist as she did. I have no talents with elemental magic, or nearly as much strength as she. Instead, I have found myself another profession- one better suited for my own talents.

"You are an assassin?" Vaythose puzzled.

"A good one," said Fair Hair. "Better than yourself, perhaps. You are Cathosa's brother then? You are Vaythose?"

"Yes," said Vaythose checking his daggers by instinct. One never knew when negotiations like these might go wrong. He waited for Fair Hair to recommence her speech.

"Your sister asked me to come as a favor. Cathosa warned me you were weak. She is anxious for you and feels you need help with your mission." Vaythose grit his teeth. He had been recipient to such words many times before. After all, his was a matriarchal society.

"All true," he said with humility although his eyes were gray steel. "I do have a mission coming up and my sister has as much as ordered me to gain assistance for it. Could you really be as skilled as an assassin as me?"

"Undoubtedly," said Fair Hair quaffing the remnants of her drink and holding her fingers aloft to order three others. "Cathosa and I have known each other a long time. I have heard from her many tales of your... exploits."

"All true!" said Cathosa, in person, as she strode forward and clapped her hand heartily on her brother's shoulder. Vaythose's face nearly lit up scarlet in shame.

"My dear little brother of mine always manages to fumble it up somehow. Somehow he always manages to make it out with a few nicks to his skin, but I fear one time his luck may run out. That's why I am asking this of you, Fair Hair."

Cathosa's voice was booming and sonorous compared to Vaythose's. Her brother's diminutive, hunched form faded nimbly into the corners of a room, while hers filled it. The dominance was effortless; personality driven. Just the same it was helped by her warrior's garb. Cathosa had the spiked high heel boots, peaked hair, and rigid leather armor of any matriarch. She also wore a fearsome, well-worn whip clipped snuggly to her hip. Behind the Dark Elf sergeant stood two smaller elves- younger and feeble. With a flick of her wrist Cathosa sent these subordinates shrinking to a distant corner of the room to buy their own drinks.

"Now then," said Cathosa downing the mug Fair Hair had bought for her in three hearty gulps. "Time to tell the barman to open the barrel with my name on it! Our friends are here!"

"Friends?" Fair Hair asked out loud as more of the underground city-dwellers entered the room. From amongst the crowd bustling in and out the door came a group of three persons. To one of these, Cathosa gave a heart grin, and another a respectful nod. "Abraham! Dear Roanna!" she exclaimed. "Glad to see you again in good health!"

Fair Hair watched dispassionately. A human male with skin nearly as black as night gave Cathosa a welcoming hand slap and shake before settling into a chair at the table next to them. A diminutive Dark Elf Priestess seated herself beside the odd human, and snuggled her cheek comfortably against the man's shoulder. She was firmly wrapped round her own shoulder by the wizard's right arm. The third companion in this group was a meager shop clerk whom Abraham had taken on as an assistant. Feebly, the elf nodded his head in greeting, and was silent. When welcomes were murmured all around, Cathosa lifted a glass, beaming. "Tonight we celebrate, Vaythose!" Her loud shout was nearly hair-lifting.

"Ah, the adventures!" spout Abraham with his own huge, wide grin. "Some of the best times of my life! I'm sure Vaythose will be fine, Cathosa. Just so long as he doesn't get stepped on by baby hydra this time!"

"Or seen by elementals! Skeet!" Cathosa broke out laughing.

"Hey, I'd like to see you walk past an elemental entity," Vaythose declared gruffly. "I'll bet the lot of you wouldn't even try."

"True enough, friend," the wizard Abraham said laughing. "But be careful all the same. Roanna and I would be happy to have you well."

Fair Hair watched the banter with mild patience. It was no matter to her what Vaythose did so long as he was to be a well-paying patron.

"I will meet you at the crossroads tunnel at dawn tomorrow, then" said Fair Hair dismissing herself. "If you wish for my aid, ride a lizard mount and bring four thousand gold. I will take one thousand gold now."

"Done," said Cathosa who had brought the gold along on behalf of Vaythose. She spilled open the sack and let her friend count every piece. "If you prefer, I'll give you credit. Four thousand gold's worth of soldiers out of my barracks! You will have the finest, don't doubt!"

"Such an affectionate sister you have, Vaythose!" Fair Hair said with a sly grin. Vaythose shrugged.

"She is a capable Dark Elf. You might say good fortune has smiled on me many times." But Fair Hair shook her head at the pair.

"If I spend a thousand gold on supplies or weapons or good armor, what will I then have left in my pocket? I will need at least half in advance."

"Tomorrow, you will have half, then. Abraham here can sell you any supplies you might need for a good price."

"Again, I would feel far better to have the gold in my own pocket. I have heard of this friend of yours- Abraham. He is wicked enough even to have cheat Sinatara herself out of pocket money."

"Yes, our friend is reckless enough to do it. So be it. Tomorrow I will bring another advance of gold, but buy your guards first! You don't wanna be robbed before you even make it to the city's gates!" But Fair Hair patted the now bulging gold purse at her waist.

"Don't worry. I have two poisoned daggers to make it sure I get home safely."

Fair Hair meant every word of it, for upon exiting the tavern, she climbed nimbly up the timber frame corner of the tavern. From here, she was able to run across rooftops with daggers drawn- just in case any of the tavern's eves droppers proved opportunistic. But even if aided by magic, few men or women of Ashan could possibly hope to keep up with an elf assassin. Fair Hair balanced and leapt across stone and wooden houses built deep into the dark of a mighty cavern. She made no beeline for home this time. There was someplace she wished to stop first.

In a stables in the cavern of beasts, a mount she had had her eyes on for months shifted in its pasture. It was early in the evening yet, and so she resoundly knocked on the stable keeper's door. Soon she was the proud owner of a fierce blue velociraptor. Its scales gleamed with a well-oiled sheen and the saddle its trainer had thrown in was a bargain- all for a mere five hundred gold. With five hundred gold coins still rattling round in her purse, Fair Hair had it half in mind to celebrate. But now was not the time. The mission she had been given began tomorrow. Whether it meant life or death for her, there was no way of getting out of it now.


	2. Chapter 2

By early morning light, Fair Hair and her velociraptor mount were standing at the Crossroads- a series of tunnels that led up to the surface and beneath ground to other Dark Elves Kingdoms. Sure enough, Vaythose was there waiting, although his mount was small, puny and green. But Fair Hair stopped feeling sorry him when Vaythose glared.

"What? It's a racer!" said Vaythose with a sharp snap to its reins and modest dinosaur began to undulate with such flexibility that she believed.

"You chose a Racer over a War Mount?" Fair Hair asked with a slender smile as she goaded her own beast to keep up with his. "An unusual selection."

"It isn't considering how I fight," Vaythose muttered. "I'm an assassin, remember? This critter has strong legs to run. That's what matters to me."

"It's reasonable," soothed Fair Hair, hoping Vaythose would slow their pace from town soon so they could talk. Soon enough, he did.

"So where are we going, chief?" Fair Hair quipped, "or is it too soon to say?" With one hand on her hip and her head slanted, she gave her benefactor a calculating evaluation. Vaythose snorted.

"Typical scouting mission. But we will go at it alone. Too well defended a territory to take any number over twenty. That's why they're sending out scouts instead of an army. If you don't like suicidal missions you should back out now." Fair Hair keenly felt the gold pieces in her heavy coin purse.

"Like I said, where are we going? I have two thousand more gold promised to me. Enough to buy a mansion." Vaythose gave her a sly smile.

"Cathosa did say you were good. If you're keen enough for the job after hearing that, I guess it's time to tell you. We are headed to a city on the surface just beyond the northern border of all Dark Elves. Sinatara has her eye on it because- well, volatile things happen there. Thirty years ago it was Dark Elf territory. It was a place with access to the surface so sun-crops could be grown. A real frontier town. But Dwarves used their machines to burn out all the above ground orchards. They even used rock-borers to smash holes into caverns. They just didn't favor having Dark Elves for neighbors. A year later, they turned around and sold all the territory they had won to a Sylvan elf. A real rich, old aristocrat. He brought a large number of Sylvan settlers with him. While he was still getting his army settled, Dark Elves made several raids on the place. Once, an army even made it to the palace of the old snob himself, before treants leveled the place. Since then, the old stiff has rebuilt but his people are... unhappy. Our job is to find out what all the unrest is about. Maybe stir it up a little."

"Wicked," said Fair Hair with a very Dark Elf grin. "But what is this frontier town called?"

"Beldowin," uttered Vaythose. He was astounded when Fair Hair's mouth dropped open in shock. She quickly recovered.

"Beldowin!? That's the place my mother was from! Promise not tell anyone, though, neh?"

"My lips are sealed," said Vaythose. "Assassin's honor."

"Which is... nothing," said Fair Hair with visible irritation. She smoothed down her bangs and averted her face from Vaythose's smirk.

"Well, don't say things you don't wish repeated," said Vaythose. "It's a base of our trade, yeah?"

"Fair enough. Truce," the female elf remarked, shrugging.

It is not quite as easy as one might think to slink two velociraptors and their riders across even the wilderness of Ashan. There are packs of wild beasts, untamed creatures burst loose from magician's caravans, and instances of necromancy cast randomly on the remnants of many a battle. So it was that even though Vaythose had said they would take on no army for the mission, they stopped at a border town to hire a personal guard to guide them through the wilderness. In a tower poised beside a placid lake, Vaythose used credentials and gold lent to him to hire two towering matriarchs. While not nearly as imposing as his sister, the matriarch's long-range elemental magic could prove useful when trying to slow down an advancing army. They also managed to hire four more assassins to serve as wary eyes for their evening campfires and a solitary raptor-rider to manage their beasts. It also is a long stated tradition also that one does not carry one's own gold. One has a servant carry it so that they will be the one murdered for it instead of one's self, so Fair Hair used her own gold to purchase a heavily chained Minotaur. It dutifully guarded both her gold and her fine, new blue velociraptor while she slept. It's face and snout were heavily marred with the scars of battles previously fought and so the beast had also interesting tales to tell.

Still, even this group of fighters was not nearly enough to fight a serious battle. In the days that followed the little war-party spend much of their time fleeing from concentrations of fierce, wild beasts. By the shores of the lake they spent time wading knee-deep to get away from an angry hoard of dragonflies, and along the mountain pass it was a mass of snarling wolves and bears whom tore after them. The group lost one of the four less experienced assassins then and one the matriarchs became horribly scarred by a polar bear. But at long last, the troop of fighters found themselves triumphantly in the North of Ashan, just beyond the reach of Dark Elf Territory.

Here, the woods were far more dangerous. The woods themselves were alive. At any time one of the trees might give them away. A triant planted idly in a Sylvan wood was deadly not so much because it was difficult to kill but because it might soon call down upon it an army of fairies and from there, a whole hoard of Sylvan archers. But Vaythose and Fair Hair were both veteran assassins. They both understood fully that as much as Sylvan elves could be as invulnerable as the sun by day, it was Darkness and their cousins the Dark Elves whom ruled the night. All they had to do was wait.

Even trees sleep at night. Ten miles west of Beldowin, Vaythose and Fair Hair parted from the camp of their hired fighters. It was safer now to complete the mission on their own. To be caught by anyone meant death and so Fair Hair took back the heavy purse of her coins and buried half behind a tombstone of a knight on a treeless mountainside. The rest, she strapped beneath the belly of her velociraptor and along her own chest. Meeting up with Vaythose, they flicked the reins of their mounts and crashed stealthily through the underbrush of a Slyvan-infested wood. Vaythose kept the violet of his eyes fixed on the forest around him. Whenever a trace of magic in the forest around them flickered into his orbs, he veered the Racer he rode into another direction so that no army of Faeries or Sylvan Guardsmen might find them.

It was a breathless ride, and even Fair Hair's mount had run the full way at a pace that was jolting. Staggering down from her saddle at last, Fair Hair gazed down at a circular clearing lit by the warmth of firelight and mystical energy. Graceful buildings and a tree of supernatural proportions dominated the clearing and blotted out even the starry sky. They had come at last to Beldowin.

"How will we get down there?" she asked, feeling irksome. "Walk in?"

"Of course not," said Vaythose. "There are still tunnels of the Dark Elves all beneath them. Most are barricaded up, but a few a small ones... reconnaissance has already been done."

"Oh," Fair Hair replied with the wicked smile true to a Dark Elf.

The depth of the night was no deterrent for them. Their eyes were sharper by night then in daylight, so it was no time at all before they managed to find a small hole in the ground inhabited by wild snakes and their nests. Scattering the beasts abroad by sword and the angry claws of their hungry velociraptors, the two elves curled neatly into the rear of the hole. Then, using magic cast on a very ordinary looking stone carved with the signet among Dark Elves, the back wall of the cave opened. It created just enough space for two Dark Elves and their mounts to pass through. The four beings padded down into the safety of this darkness. The cave wall slid closed slowly after them.

What Vaythose had said about the Dwarves drilling holes into the caverns had been true. A ruined city lay underground. Not a single house was serviceable. All were crumbling ruins or meager mounds of rubble with the mere suggestions of what was a roof here and there. But the natural cavern was still a comfortable abode. At its edge, the cavern was a kind place to set a warming campfire. Fair Hair cast a timid magic flame into a circle of scavenged wood. Vaythose stuck a slap of snake meat onto oiled sticks at the fire's edge, then unrolled the rolls of padded cloth that are used for resting. It was the awkward silence of two assassins, neither of whom were on anyone's side but their own, whom found themselves alone. Neither tried to make any conversation. But then the warming sizzle of the snake meat put both in better tempers.

"What will we do?" asked Fair Hair looking up through the slender chasm the Dwarves had created to the stars above. "Leave the raptors here?"

"Yeah," said Vaythose wrapping his warm cloak about himself although the fire was burning quite brightly already. "How do you like that plan?"

"Good enough," said Fair Hair, her lips pursed with thought. "Two elves could slip into the city easily. But how will we get in? Invisibility?" Vaythose gave her a thoughtful, side long stare.

"I have another idea," Vaythose said leaning forward. Slowly, he reached up towards the wig that made her appearance the same of any dark elf. Alarmed, Fair Hair put her hand on it, but Vaythose gave it a persistent tug.

"Ouch. Enough of that!" the female assassin quarreled, "or I'll stick a knife in you! Okay I get it! I could wear a disguise. But do you think my hair is really light enough to pass for a Sylvan?" Fair Hair fumbled with the many pins and even ties that held her ebony locks in place. What came out from beneath shimmered like the silver dust of a star. Vaythose took a lock of the hair and ran his fingers through it.

"It's as fair a color as any Sylvan elf I've seen!" he declared boldly. "With you dressed up no one would suspect you of being a dark elf!"

"And what about you?" she said, vexed.

"Me? I'll dress up, too! No one would suspect a wood elf and her companion strolling out of a wood! I'll steal a bow and kill a deer for you or something! We can say we are wanderers, on adventurer from afar!" Vaythose lifted one hand toward the stars for extra drama.

"Assassins are not quite the same kind of wanderers as adventurers," Fair Hair remarked, "but yes, I understand the ruse."

Long before sun dawned the next day, the two rubbed powder onto their faces and arms to disguise the darker hue of their skin. True to his word, Vaythose had gone out to steal a bow and a set of native clothes from an unfortunate Sylvan whom had prowled along a poorly lit path in the Sylvan wood. But there was not the time to contemplate killing game to compliment their disguise. There was not even the time to try to make it into Beldowin at all, for standing outside the cave entrance that was their exit, an ambush of Elven druids waited. Fair Hair did not even have time to whistle for her mount before her hands were bound and she was pinned against a wooden pole like a bear skin in need of tanning. Vaythose suffered the same indignity.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" shouted Fair Hair, trying to impersonate a Sylvan maiden in distress. But the Elven men did not respond to her speech and the only eyes she could see were the lifeless eyes of the deer heads they wore as head dresses.

"We will take you to... the Master Shamen!" one of their capturers announced at last as they were carried by pole not into the tree city of Beldowin, but away from it. At last, they were set upright again in the midst of a grotto filled with totem poles. Fair Hair eyed the many totems fearfully. All of them featured an animal that could tear her open viciously. A bear, a boar, a snake, and last of all a wolf howled fearsomely down on her. But the creatures featured on the totems did not come to her. Another druid wearing an elaborate headdress made from the skulls and finger bones of many unfortunate creatures did. He was awash in cloth that must have been stolen as the bounty of war. It bore the same, careful and vivid colors that marked a powerful priest from the Human empire. But it was altered so that the long robe was slit on either side for ease of movement. The druid elves whom had taken Fair Hair and Vaythose prisoner bowed in respect before this elder.


	3. Chapter 3

"You are Dark Elves!" the Master Shamen declared without pretense. He pointed a long, gnarled bone staff in their direction. "Why have you come to Beldowin?" But Fair Hair grit her teeth. This much she knew- it was the last duty of a Dark Elf assassin to betray nothing to their captors even if it meant death.

"Why do think we are Dark Elves?" she said hoping there might be confusion. But the elf before her astonished her by removing his headdress. Then, slowly, like an air balloon filling, the Master Druid shifted form until he became a royal snake of an enormity she had never seen!

"The beasts of the wood have told many tales of you. Not all of the serpents of the cave you killed, either. You let one escape! It has seen, heard, known much!" Slowly, the transformed Elf Priest slid its coils around the clearing, circling its captives. Fair Hair pulled her feet up in fear as coil neared her.

"You are Dark Elves. You have come here! Why?" the transformed elf hissed before gentling his tone and sliding away to a distant side of the clearing. Fair Hair put her toes down on the grotto sand again.

"Us?" she spoke up both afraid and angry. "How about you? How is it possible for you to turn into animals, you, you..."

"Werebeast," the transformed Shamen completed for her. "We are of the tribe of the Were-Elves. Brown elves, if you are one of nearly all Sylvana. We are nature-shamen. Many of us are trained to serve the Sylvana as druids. But unlike them, we do not worship plants! We worship the spirits of the beasts- the most mighty of the forest! Many of our tribe can manage a partial transformation. But many can become a beast you may have seen. Have you ever heard of the werewolf?"

"Were-Elves!" said Fair Hair, the back of her neck prickling. "You aren't going to turn me into a werewolf, too, are you?"

"I think not," said the royal snake before them, still speaking with the voice of a man. "Becoming a Were-Elf takes years of prayer and practice. But I do have things to ask. Tell me, Dark Elf," the giant snake said, rearing up and tasting the air to smell her. "What is your mother's name?"

"My mother?" She leant back in fright as the serpent's giant fangs came near her.

"Her name was Lmiriel!"

"Lmiriel?" said the snake-man tasting the air for her truthfulness. "Lmiriel died many years ago in a Dark Elf raid."

"She was a Dark Elf slave," Fair Hair muttered, utterly shamed. "She was my mother."

"Yes. I can taste her blood in you," said the royal snake, its tongue flickering. "Which is very joyous news for me. Lmiriel was the only daughter of the Sylvana whom we have called king. But he had fallen childless. His cousin now is our king, and we have suffered badly because of it. With you, perhaps, we could destroy the reign of our tyrant." But at this, Vaythose, whom had been silent previously, began kicking at the bonds that tied him.

"Ridiculous!" The Dark Elf said in mockery. "Help you? A Were-Elf? Yeah, sure, our tribes were once cousins of yours. We were neighbors. But where was your tribe when the Sylvana banished us? Where were you when the Dark Elves were framed for crimes the demons had done? Where we you when Elves attacked us and drove us from our homes? Your tribe looked away. It was deaf to us. Only Malassa heard!" Vaythose finished, then to make a point, wiggled fingers to make a religious gesture toward the dragon goddess of the Dark Elves. Fair Hair meekly copied his show of reverence.

"It is because you were our cousins that you know full well why were silent. Our tribe was small and weak, even compared to yours. If our kin had sided with you against the Sylvana, we would have been destroyed. Worse, we would have been severed from the spirits of the beasts!"

"Your clan could have come to worship the dragon, too," Vaythose spat coldly. But the royal snake hissed with anger.

"We do not worship the dragon. We do not worship the beasts that live below the ground. That is for your kin. But I ask again for you to consider what I have to say. Our people suffer greatly in Beldowin. We came here because our clan was unwelcome elsewhere. We had high hopes for the snowy lands of the North! But our Sylvan masters have not been kind to us. There has been famine, and instead of sparing grain for his people, our king has continued to throw banquets! We are starved and yet we are expected to feed his army. The unicorn colts began to die, and when that happened some of our kind scavenged the dead. For that crime, many were killed! We continue to dwindle in number and yet our king locks us out of the city! We are not allowed to own homes or businesses there and yet we work in his fields and orchards! We give him the meat of our flocks for our table while our children starve! But you, you are a rightful heir to the throne! You could free us from him, if you dared."

"How would you know she wouldn't betray you to the Dark Elves, hm?" said Vaythose. "She is one of us!"

"I think she will not," muttered the snake, shrinking back into the shape of a druid. He took his head dress from one of his brethren, and reaffixed it to his head. "I ask for you to consider what I ask. In return, I will not deliver you up to the king of Beldowin."

With swift proficiency, Vaythose and Fair Hair were carried back to the hillside where she had buried some gold. Her blue velociraptor and Vaythose's green one were both tied not far from the knight's tombstone. As soon as the binds on her hand and feet were loosed, Fair Hair's captors faded back into the forest. But several wolves came out of it, and so Fair Hair knew they were watched.

"Let's get out of here," the female elf said, rubbing the rope burns at her wrist.

"A good idea," said Vaythose thoughtfully.

The ride back was unpleasant for all of them. Although the units they had hired had waited for them, it was another long journey fraught with danger to return to their city. Vaythose kept his head turned away from her the whole time, and Fair Hair thought it was an expression of his disappointment. She believed that until upon reaching the city's edge, she found a whole Dark Elf military legion waiting to greet them, led by Sinitara, ruler of the city itself. At Sinitara's beckoning, Vaythose came and stood by the regent's side.

"So, assassin," she said angrily cracking a whip against the parched earth. "I hear you have received an offer to assume leadership of a city! Too bad for you, I cannot allow it!" Sinatara smashed the whip against the ground and gestured her command. "Vaythose, kill her!"

With an unhappy, but grim face, Vaythose paced forward in front of his ruler. He brought his two daggers up in place. "I'm sorry," he said before shimmering out of space into the veil of invisibility.

But Fair Hair was an assassin also. She cast the veil of invisibility spell and was out of place, unfindable, by the time Vaythose morphed out of the time limits of his own spell. Fair Hair remained cloaked by magic, but Vaythose deftly turned aside her own dagger slashes at him from seemingly nowhere. He turned on his heel, locked his hands on her as soon she reappeared and threw her into the dust. Then, as if this were a mere spar, he waited for her to rise.

"Vaythose!" Sinitara shouted angrily at his delay. "Kill her now!" Vaythose threw himself into the air towards her and Fair Hair met his daggers with her own. Desperately, she chopped in time to his, but when Vaythose rolled backwards along the ground and flipped a dagger at her, she knew he was the veteran warrior by far. Reflexively, she braced herself for the hit of the poisoned blade, but instead, felt it whistle several inches to her left. The regent, Sinitara, apparently, had had enough.

"Arrest him!" she shouted to some of her minotaur. Obedient to her will, they grasped the elf and hauled him up by either arm. Fair Hair took advantage of the confusion to turn tail and run. She fled into the brush, where much to her astonishment, an army of wild beasts led by two Were-Elves, leapt forward to give her ample time to flee. As she crashed through the brush, whistling her blue velociraptor toward her, all she could think about was the duel. Vaythose had missed his dagger on purpose. Fair Hair asked herself the question- why?

 _ **He missed**_ , Fair Hair told herself the next day as she lowered herself into the body-strewn water. _**It is because he spared me that he was imprisoned**_. But Dark Elves are always pragmatic. The water Fair Hair meant to wade through now was a channel cut between the Dark Elf prison and the velociraptor breeding pens in the cavern of the beasts. Its wicked purpose was twofold. First-most, the rapid waters of the channel served as an effective way to flush away the bodies of dead or sick prisoners. Secondly, it served as an effective means by which to provide the velociraptors caged there with a bounty of meat.

To pass them, Fair Hair had already needed to smear herself head to two with foul-smelling sap. She had used her veil of invisibility also, and now, standing half-hunched over in the narrow groove carved by slaves a hundred years ago, there was no going back. Vaythose was up in that tower, in the prison where they cast the bodies from. Fair Hair earnestly prayed that one of the bodies she passed was not his.

The swiftly rushing water was cold and unpleasant, but the real obstacle were the falls. The channel descended from the tower a full sixty feet, and to control the spillway, workers had carved three lofty falls with a very narrow opening. Fair Hair penitently crawled through each gushing channel. After all, it was she whom had been Vaythose's downfall.

Thoroughly drenched and shivering, Fair Hair pulled herself up from the narrow grove into the base of the Dark Elf Dungeon. A narrow grate separated herself and the guards above. She hoped they would not look down to spot her in the sewer below. They did not. When they left she lifted up the grate and gave out a gasp of gratitude when she found it was not locked down in any fashion. The grate lifted up cleanly and easily. She slithered into a quiet hallway permeated only by the murmuring of prisoners and the distant shouts of guardsmen. Fair Hair removed an oiled pouch from her pocket and wiped all the water off it. Fortunately, its contents of smoke bombs had not been dampened. These she held carefully in the palm of her hand.

A careful bit of prowling brought Fair Hair to the interrogation chamber where Vaythose was being held. Through the bars, she could see the Dark Elf had been chained by hand manacles between two posts. Whip stripes ran down his lean back. On either side of him, a minotaur guard hulked.

Fair Hair picked the door lock. Then, as the minotaur turned their heads toward the door click, she threw the smoke bombs in her hand through the heavy metal door. With the rush of her booted feet, she ran into the room and placed a wetted cloth over Vaythose's mouth and nose. When the smoke cleared, the two minotaur lay sprawled out on the floor in a daze.

"Let's get you out of here!" Fair Hair cried out to the astonished elf. But he set his mouth grimly. Fair Hair was taken back by his stubborness.

"No," said Vaythose turning his head away from hers. "I have served under Sinitara my whole life! I am not going to stop that now!"

"But Vaythose!" Fair Hair cried, shaking his shoulders in hopes he would see sense. "She is punishing you!"

"Yes, this is my punishment!" Vaythose grumbled. "But you should leave here! It's your own self you should worry about the most. Even if you freed me, there is nothing I could do for you."

"But, Vaythose," Fair Hair spout with consternation. But Vaythose kept his gaze fixed steadily on the wall of the dungeon.

"But Vaythose, what?" he said bitterly. "You want me to run my fingers through your hair, again or something? Sorry but I've served Sinitara all my life. I'm not going to give up my nation for a woman." Fair Hair drew back in raw astonishment of his words.

"Fine," she said throwing the hood of her cloak back around her. With a whirr on her heel she slammed the door. Moments later, the mighty Sinitara came prowling into the dungeon herself on her stiletto shoes. She leant down and scooped up one of the empty smoke canisters. Then, as if it were a rare jewel, she held it up to the light and examined it.

"Sorry about all this," she spoke to the Dark Elf assassin before her. "You know how it is. I had to test to see if you would not betray me. But after all this, I know for certain that you would not." Vaythose lifted his head up to place one violet eye on his master.

"It's okay, I'm a Dark Elf. I understand all about it," he said miserably. "Now if you're done with the corporal punishment, can I get out of these chains please?"

"Of course," said Sinitara snapping her fingers together amicably. Two fresh minotaur stumbled into the room. After all, it wasn't like she was going to do the work of unchaining a prisoner herself. His chin lifted up in pride, Vaythose redressed himself by Sinitara's side.

Fair Hair fled but she did not leave the city. Instead, with stealth she made her way to a humble merchant's street. There, many venders sold choice meats and vegetables and tidbits to eat. It was there also, Fair Hair felt sure she would find Cathosa and true enough, the female Dark Elf was seated on a stone park bench taking a lunch break from her hard work of drilling military recruits. Like a shadow, Fair Hair wrapped herself along a beautifully carved stalagmite and startled Cathosa with her speech. The matriarch dropped her roast-potato-on-a-stick in shock.

"You know you owe me two thousand in gold for services rendered... Cathosa. I have a favor to ask you."

"Woah. You're still in this city? That's brazen. Yeah, I heard about all you did with my little brother."

"I tried to save him," Fair Hair mumbled. But Cathosa raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about Vaythose. He's proven himself too many times. Sinitara owes him too much, so he'll be fine. He won't be punished much. Just reprimanded a little. He's made Sinitara crabby, embarrassing her in front of the troops and all. Look, I heard about you from my little brother, okay? A deal's a deal, so I'll slide you the gold."

"I need troops," Fair Hair countered. "An army of lizard riders."

"Woah," said Cathosa, jolted by shock. "Hold on now, lizard riders aren't cheap! What will Sinitara say if I give you a handful of great cavalry and let you ride out of here with 'em! She will have me on the whipping post next! And she whips mighty hard!" But Fair Hair was not impressed.

"A debt is a debt," she ground out stubbornly. Cathosa shrugged her shoulders in defeat.

"Okay then, have it your way. Ride out and have your adventure. Only try not to get yourself killed. I had a funny feeling that my brother was awfully fond of you. And he's never offered a single child to be trained at temple. "

"Not my problem," Fair Hair grit her teeth. "Just get the riders now, please! I'll be waiting on the edge of town and I'll consider the debt paid." Cathosa whistled.

"Woah, you sure are in a bad mood today, cutie! You're acting like a true Dark Elf at last!"

Cathosa did not leave the city herself, but true to her word six lizard riders slipped out the rear gates of the city on a presumed military drill. Instead, their captain offered himself up to Fair Hair as her subordinate. They were young elves, inexperienced, but in this way Fair Hair was reassured they did not have long standing ties to towering underground city they were leaving. Unlike Vaythose.

With an angry snap to her reins Fair Hair drove her velociraptor vaulting forward through the dark cavern tunnels. Soon the faint light of the surface world grew brighter and she left the dark world of the Dark Elves behind her for the forests of Beldowin. It was here she was determined to return. There her fortunes might prove better.

As Fair Hair approached the spiraling, stone staircase that was the Gate to this upper-world, a single spyglass kept itself fixed on her steady retreat. Sinitara, Ruler among Dark Elves, lowered the spyglass with a frown. "Foolish girl," said Sinitara watching Fair Hair from a secret tower built into the walls of the cavern itself. "She's only going to get herself killed. Even if a rebellion in Beldowin were to succeed, there are thousands of Dwarf mercenaries able to take it back at a moment's notice. Beldowin will burn."

"But she doesn't know that," said Vaythose behind her, his face full of regret.

"It's not like she's entirely stupid, either," said Cathosa, another of the secret party, flinging her hair back and jutting out her hip as she gave a broad grin. "Remember, that's how even the Dark Elves started out! Your hero, old Raelag was nothing but a mad-man elf fighting tournaments at first."

"Sinitara," said the mild mannered Dark Elf Priestess Roanna, who had been at the tavern when Vaythose had first hired Fair Hair. "Vaythose will be sad if we don't help his friend." Sinitara's face grew flush with rage.

"All right, all right! I get it, you people! You want me to help her! Well, it would not be the worst thing. Still, I have to ask Malassa first. I will not march on this without permission!"

It was a long and elaborate ceremony to summon the dragon goddess, Malassa, but when she came, their people's goddess's eyes looked pleased with Sinitara's questions.

"It would be a good change in the world for Dark Elves," the wily black dragon said sagely. "This is a chance for you to gain a valuable ally and strengthen your empire." Flapping her wings, Malassa faded back into the portal of darkness from which she had come. Cathosa pumped a fist into the air in celebration.

"A brawl!" Cathosa whooped. "This is good news, Sinitara! Come on, look pleased about it!" The regent gave her a less sour look than usual.

"Well. It has been a long time since I've had a good war. My saddle is getting dusty."

"That's the spirit!" said Cathosa clapping her hands together with glee. "Come on, 'Tara! we've got a war to plan!"

Miles away on the surface world, Fair Hair continued her gallop towards the soon-to-be battered-with-conflict North. As she rode, a few of the troops that had scattered in retreat in the face of Sinitara found their way back to her. After all, they were as homeless in the wilderness as she was. Fair Hair was glad indeed when the minotaur was first to return to her.

As she rode north, Fair Hair was astonished to see that many of the wild beasts her army had feared joined her. Many of the wolves and bears that had tore at them at the mountain's pass had become as meek as a lamb. The polar bear led them into a marching line behind her lizard riders with a sly wink.

From the scraggly crests of hills thin of trees, Elven maidens appeared. These strange elves wore skulls instead of tiaras on their brow and the staffs they held were adorned with the grisly remains of ravens. These, too, fell in line with her army as it prowled northwards. From amongst the roots of Sylvan trees as they reached them, giant snakes burst up from the ground. Like living ropes, these snakes dove as swiftly as fish across the ground to join them. Later, scores of Were-beast, mostly werewolves but with a myriad of others, approached. A few of these were untransformed men with clawed gauntlets on either hand. At last came the Druids, their deer-heads lashed onto their heads so as to make them seem un-elven. With these new troops to join her, Fair Hair's army had grown five-fold. But was it really enough to take a Sylvan city?

It seemed the Master Shamen had self-appointed himself to be Fair Hair's assistant-general. Although he appeared last of all, he quickly set to work organizing her army's units. Fair Hair observed him cautiously, for the elf had even popular support to appoint himself king. Yet she was forced by fate to ally with him.

"Master Shamen," Fair Hair asked the Were-Elf at last. "What would you have me do?"

"Ride with us," the Master Shamen said with the air of simplicity. "Speak to the people. Encourage them." Fair Hair called to some of the men, then. While she had them build a simple stage, she went to her tent to clean up. Instead of her assassin's robe she dressed herself in a clean dress with shoulders like sails on the wind. Slowly, she climbed up to her podium and felt all eyes upon her.

"People of Beldowin!" she began, trying to throw her voice far enough to reach all corners of the army. "You have been told that Odulgh, cousin of the late-king of Beldowin, is his only kin! But I am here today to tell you that this is false! Lmiriel, daughter of the king, survived her hardship and persevered! I am her daughter, and true heir to the throne of Beldowin!"

"Over the years, your people have suffered. You have been persecuted much like your cousins, the Dark Elves! But if you help me reclaim the throne today, I promise you, that you will have a kingdom that welcomes you as its own! I am Beldovedrenne, Princess of Beldowin and daughter of the Lord of Shathe!"

At this, the crowd before her gave Beldovedrenne a mighty cheer. Fair Hair wiped a tear out of her eye, for it had become an emotional moment for as well. Yet, she wondered what the Were-Elves thought of her trade as an assassin as she carefully wrapped her black robes around herself again.

There was not much time for emotion. Fair Hair's minotaur servant brought her blue velociraptor to her and she hoisted herself aboard. This was work she was much more accustomed to. To take Beldowin they would have to cut a swath through the Sylvan guard. With dusk descending, she and the other lizard-riders charged down into the forest. Snapping and snarling, their beasts destroyed the fragile wooden towers that guarded the border and sent the Sylvan archers within them tumbling.

Behind them, the howling of wolves, snarling of bears, and hissing of snakes echoed. Like a living wave, they flooded into the entrance of Beldowin. There they met the full strength of Odulgh's army, but it had been weakened by the poor management of its leader. Even the steadfast unicorns were hard pressed to keep the angry Were-Beasts and velociraptors at bay. Fair Hair watched the entire tragic scene unfold.

Then, to her utmost astonishment, the last of the Master Shamen's allies attacked. A phoenix with wings of flame struck at Beldowin's gates. It perished twice and faded, but not before it had taken down the walls to keep invaders out. Within minutes, the Sylvan city of Beldowin was taken.

"Wait!" Fair Hair called to the invading army. "Wait! Odulgh is mine! Do not touch my prey!" she said with all the menace of a Dark Elf assassin she could muster.

"But you will place yourself in harm's way," the Master Shamen protested. But Fair Hair ran forward before anyone could interfere.

In the palace castle of Beldowin, she called out Odulgh. He came out of his castle with a rude sniff. "A daughter of Lmiriel you say? Your army has won. How about we call a truce, then? Civilized beings do not go about killing their cousins," he said. But Fair Hair pulled the twin poisoned blades from their scabbards.

"Like I said, come down here and duel with me! It would be pleasing to my goddess, for I serve Malassa!"

Three miles north of all this bedlam, Sinitara positioned her army in a place where they could see Dwarf mercenaries amassing three miles to the north. They were too late to stop the siege of Beldowin, perhaps, but they could taken the city back from its besiegers.

But Sinitara had brought the full strength of a Dark Elf army with her. Small, tamer versions of black dragons rustled their velvet-black wings in anticipation of a battle. Three legions of minotaur swung their axes in the light of the moon. Assassins and matriarchs stood shoulder to on the plain. Sinitara herself wore full battle armor.

The dwarves were an intelligent race. They waited until the sun had gained its full strength and burned bright in the eyes of the Dark Elves before they made their attack. The machines of catapults rolled into place and swung, flinging giant smoldering boulders of flame towards them. Dwarves on bear cavalry charged in supported by ax-throwers. As the common infantry of the dwarves rolled into place, many of the minotaur fell. But Sinitara struck at them with powerful spells to diminish the bite of their army. Her dragons clawed the dwarven catapults apart.

Within the city of Beldowin, Fair Hair saw the battle raging not far from the city's edge. With a sharp hiss of rage, she left the victory of her duel behind. She and only the swiftest of her troops galloped out the city's gates in a full out run to join the Dark Elf army. Her company was accepted into Sinitara's camp without question.

"What is it you are doing here, Lady Sintara?" she asked. "Are you here to add Beldowin to your list of conquests?"

"No, actually I am here to save your butt," said Sinitara between fireballs and hand gestures to her troops. "It is a favor to Vaythose, you might say. He is my most trusted lieutenant and I was cruel to him in how I treated you. I think the sly, old bachelor likes you quite a bit."

"Vaythose? Where is he?" said Fair Hair still half-angry with the elf. Sinitara pointed to the far front lines.

"Leading the assassins, of course. Disposable lot they are, assassins. Except Vaythose. That boy has the luck of a devil. Still, I would reinforce the frontlines with your lizard-riders soon. The troops there are getting mighty thin!" Fair Hair veered her head in the direction in which Sinitara pointed and with a gulp, she realized she was right.

"Very well!" she shouted despite Sinitara's wicked grin. "I will!"

Fair Hair was no skilled rider, however, and when her lizard balked in the frontlines, she gave the beast to a matriarch and left it to its own fate. Instead, she pulled free both her daggers from their sheath and stalked into the frontlines where Vaythose's unit strove against the onslaught of burly, red-bearded dwarves. Fair Hair watched in awe as Vaythose bent and wove, avoiding a narrow miss as a rugged dwarf sent an ax hurdling through the air towards him. But she had not come here to admire. She had come here to fight, and so she began her own swift strokes to strike down one of the many beer-bellied dwarves.

"Vaythose!" she called when they were nearly shoulder to shoulder in the fray. The Dark elf gave her a startled side longs glance.

"What are you doing here?" he said before parrying an opponent again. Like the shiver of a reflection on water, he moved swiftly on the battlefield.

"Assassinating dwarves!" Fair Hair said with a battle-hungry smile. Side by side, she and Vaythose pressed forward as a deadly swath.

"Um what is that?" asked Roanna. The Dark Elf Priestess was watching the battlefield from its rear where she helped heal the injured with her unusual skills. From her vantage point, she could see the dwarves roll out a large braced piece of wood like a tree and set iron rods tipped with fire upon it! From the frontlines, Vaythose could see it, too.

"Holy crap!" he said. "Where did they get a ballista! We are so screwed!" The dark elf ducked his head as the first of its bolts fired and plunged deep into the line of matriarchs, taking out a half dozen. His startled sister struggled to keep her line in place. This they could tell by the frequent crackings of her whip.

"Every moment is an adventure!" said Vaythose taking advantage of the time it would take to re-load the machine to run closer to it. Fair Hair could only breathe a sigh of relief that the Dwarves had not brought their own dragon with them when Vaythose wobbled on the sides of ballista's platform, and scaling up it, emerged to jump up onto the wide crossbar of the ballista itself. With the giant crossbow spinning wildly, he lunged out at its operators.

"Vaythose!" Fair Hair mumbled out. She was awe struck at the elf's reckless but brave feat. The rest of the assassin troops, indeed the whole front line was far behind him and she feared a grave would soon be in the elf's future. A heavy set Dwarf staggered forward to chop down at Vaythose to remove him from their catapult but Vaythose used invisibility to cover his escape. Soon, like a storm that has wailed its loudest, the army of Dwarven mercenaries began to break and soon, trickled away. Both Vaythose and Fair Hair were alive at the battle's end to sheath their blades.

"That was a fight even gods might remember!" said Fair Hair. "Please come to Beldowin as a guest! Vaythose, I am sorry we have gotten off on the wrong foot."

"It could not be helped," Vaythose said proudly, "Lady... Beldovedrenne?"

"And where did you hear about that?" said Fair Hair with a broad smile.

"I am a good spy," Vaythose mumbled. "I keep my secrets." He offered Beldovedrenne his slender hand.

After such a great victory as theirs, it was a complex thing to work out the machinations of a new government. Sinitara and much of her war party stayed in the palace of the Beldowin, as much to make sure her the kingdom's old subjects were settled into her rule as much as to make sure this place could be reborn as a Dark Elf settlement. While not exactly pleasing to the Were-Elves, they were content enough so long their rights would be respected on the surface world. The great city underground was begun to be rebuilt, and a few hundred Dark Elves commoners transported to Beldowin as a politically-minded gift.

"This city will be a bit unique," Sinitara said turning a head all around her as she studied the city below. "Some of the people are Dark Elves; some of them are Were-Elves; and a few of them even remain Sylvan. This has become the most diverse Elven settlement since Tieru drove the Dark Elves from the surface of Ashan. But we need this city. To buffer us against the Dwarves."

"And to grow apples!" said Roanna holding up one of the fruits and taking a large bite out of it. "Abraham has promised he will buy an orchard for me! Then I will have all the apples I want!"

"The tight-wad can afford it," Cathosa remarked loudly, but smiled just the same. "What a battle we fought! What a war! I'd fight it all again except I've got too much of a headache from beer."

"You'll have to be careful of that," scolded Sinitara. "Don't let the Dwarves get you complacent with beer."

"There is one more thing I would like to settle with you before you go home," said Fair Hair turning to the Matriarch. "I will need a military leader for my own army. Someone I can trust. I would like you to give Vaythose to me." Sinitara's face blossomed with anger quickly.

"No chance. I was thinking it was time I promoted Vaythose to general in my kingdom. He has truly proved himself in battle."

"I can't possibly do without him!" said Fair Hair, eyes flashing. "He's the strong supporter I absolutely must have to lead!" The two Elven women glared at each other and Vaythose quickly stepped in between. He held his hands up in a plea for a truce.

"Ladies, ladies! I'm honored you want to fight over me. But I think there has been enough battle in Beldowin! Sinitara, you will always have my loyalty! This I swear, by the flames of Malassa! But I think I'm growing to be an old elf, and for a time I'd like to stay in Beldowin, with your permission, of course! After all, I think there is a woman whom would appreciate my company!" Sinitara folded her arms. With one hand curled beneath her chin, she considered it.

"All right, Vaythose," she said with a cold smile so calculating it could make blood freeze solid. "But all things, you know, come with a price. Some paper please!" she cried to a minotaur. "And bring my best red ink! This calls for some bargaining." And so in the snow-bordered city of Beldowin, it was business as usual for the Dark Elves.


End file.
